Stop ICE Price Gouging Act

The proposed bill to cap prices at immigration detention facility commissaries is a constitutional exercise of Congress's enumerated powers. The federal government possesses plenary authority over immigration and the operation of detention facilities under Article I, Section 8, Clause 4 (the power to establish a uniform rule of naturalization) and Clause 18 (the necessary and proper clause). As the Federalist No. 33 explains, the necessary and proper clause grants Congress discretion in selecting means to execute its delegated powers, provided those means are not prohibited and are consistent …

The proposed bill to impose a price cap on items sold at immigration detention facility commissaries exceeds the limited and enumerated powers delegated to Congress by the Constitution. Nowhere in Article I, Section 8 is Congress granted the authority to fix prices of goods, even within federal facilities. Such economic regulation intrudes upon the natural right of individuals to freely contract and exchange property, a right secured by the Fifth Amendment's Due Process and Takings Clauses. Moreover, the Tenth Amendment reserves to the states and the people all powers not expressly delegated t…

The proposed legislation seeks to regulate prices within immigration detention facilities, which are operated by the federal government. Under the Constitution, Congress possesses the power to regulate commerce among the several states (Article I, Section 8, Clause 3) and to make all laws necessary and proper for executing its enumerated powers (Article I, Section 8, Clause 18). However, the authority to impose price controls on commissary items must be tethered to a specific enumerated power, such as the power to establish uniform rules of naturalization (Article I, Section 8, Clause 4) or to…

The Constitution vests in Congress the power to regulate commerce among the several states, as affirmed in Gibbons v. Ogden (1824), and to make all laws necessary and proper for executing its enumerated powers, as established in McCulloch v. Maryland (1819). The proposed price cap on commissary items at immigration detention facilities may be a valid exercise of Congress's power to regulate immigration and manage federal property, provided it is a necessary and proper means to carry out the federal government's authority over immigration detention. However, if the cap is applied to items that …